This post is a Part 2 continuation from a previous blog you can read here
"...In the culinary world there are several ways to become a chef and have a career (just like our industries)..."
Sous Chef
This is the next rung of the ladder. The sous chef tasks and responsibilities are diversified and vary from cooking or plating certain dishes to establishing the menu and dealing with the ingredient providers. Therefore the position requires both culinary and managerial skills. In addition to that, solid experience in the kitchen is necessary in order to land a sous chef job. Usually, the sous chefs have a step-by-step ascension which starts with washing dishes and chopping onions. Clearly this is a huge leap in mindset, skill sets and responsibilities.
At about 8-10 years into my career I had earned an additional 20+ certifications and qualifications, was a national and international director, operated health clubs, was involved in coaching team sports at club level, and managed thousands of people. My understanding and application of movement had grown. Yet still I had many holes that I could not fill in my learning and problems to which my solutions were failing. The more I learned the less I knew.
For professionals who have been in the industry for sometime and may have multiple educational certs, we would expect them to have greater bandwidth in their learning and application. Perhaps they are department heads, specialize in certain populations (e.g. injuries, sports, at risk, youth, etc), or they themselves become educators to their peers and community. They are beyond just following the instructions and desire and deserve more than that. Again lets look at 3DMAPS.
At this level you have become outstanding at performing 3DMAPS. You are confident and competent in the principles and the system. But now you have increased your bandwidth and no longer need rely solely on the performance system. AFS has enabled you to create different recipes (with the same ingredients!) by a new way of thinking. AFS empowers you to make your own recipes! Just because someone brings you eggs, sugar and flour does not mean you are making bread. You might be making a soufflé J
Pivotal Point: For the more veteran coach and professional who has experience the power of AFS can be found in the capacity to cook whatever you want based on the ingredients you have to work with. Usually when we first cook something it does not taste as we had hoped. Often it is inedible! Human movement is no different. Use the PST process to cook it again. You might need to change an ingredients, the recipe, or instructions – or all of them. Its OK! The more you tweak it the better it gets.
Executive Chef
Now we are at the top – the head honcho. The position of Executive Chef is the kitchen equivalent of a CEO. The Executive Chef is responsible for all of the daily operations of the kitchen. He or she must maintain control of the kitchen and the people who work there so that the food that leaves the kitchen meets the requirements. The Executive Chef serves as a role model and mentor to the chefs, and must maintain a professional appearance and demeanor at all times. This leader is responsible for the entire experience, success and growth of the restaurant and all those in it. They are also still the best cook in the restaurant J
Today I have the blessing to do the two things I most love doing professionally: coach and teach (the same thing?). I do it in many ways to serve different populations globally. I have made a great many mistakes along the way and hopefully learned from some of them with lessons to still to be learned. As a movement coach and teacher this is where AFS has had the greatest impact on me. As I continued to study, learn, and apply (20+ years / 35+ certs and qualifications) AFS has helped to make the complex simple and (oxymoronically) the simple complex. This is truly a gift to those who have been doing this for a long time and wish to give back and make a difference (leader).
For the movement professional at this stage of their career we would hope to see a mindset and skill set that transcends just ingredients, recipes and instructions. We want to create transformational experiences that impact not just the human body but also the human being that resides inside that body. Indeed we want this for our community and all those around us / in it. So, lets look one last time at 3DMAPS.
Pivotal Point: 3DMAPS is pure genius. 6 chain reactions to show stability and mobility across all 66 vital motions and all vital transformational zones. Wow! But the leader knows the real beauty of AFS means they can use any and all movement to assess. Indeed…the exercise is the test and the test is the exercise. Can I create a 3DMAPS for running? For throwing? For tennis? For basketball? For gardening…? Yes.
At this moment the leader laughs, scratches their melon, and asks “is it really this simple?” Yes! But that simplicity was only possible because of the desire and dedication to first understand the complex. Again he / she asks “is it really this complex?”. Yes! This is the wonderfully exhausting paradox of AFS it is both the complex made simple and the simple made complex.
At this stage the leader (head chef) recognizes that understanding and coaching movement is not a wrestling match but rather a dance. One that is 50% science and 50% art.
Conclusion
In my experience, AFS applies to every level of professional role, mindset and skill set in the industry. Each role has different Ingredients, recipes and instructions and this is answered by the PST process of AFS.
The novice can be empowered by following the guidelines yet enabling transformation. The veteran is empowered by a sense of freedom and autonomy, sees their own bandwidth grow and becomes a true agent of change. The leader is empowered by the power to create on demand and meet people where they need to be met. The leader empowers those around them…to enjoy the dance.
So…is AFS best for the novice, the veteran, or the leader?
Yes.